It’s me, Willa!” Though my stepsister was twenty-seven, her voice retained a childlike chime, and the sound never failed to bring a smile to my face.
“Hi, sweetie! How’s the Big Apple? Do you love it?”
“It’s so great, but Harper, I have news! Big news!”
“Really? Did you find a job?”
“Yes, I’m, um, an office assistant. But that’s not my news. Are you ready? Are you sitting down?”
A chilly sense of dread laced through my knees. I glanced at Dennis, who was focused on the ball game. “Okay…what is it?”
“I’m getting married!”
My hand flew to my mouth. “Willa!”
“I know, I know, you’re gonna have kittens, and yes, we just met a couple weeks ago. But it’s like kismet, is that the right word? Totally real. I mean, Harper, I’ve never felt like this before! Ever.”
Crotch. I took a breath, held it for a few seconds, then released it slowly. “I hate to be a buzzkill, Willa, but that’s what you said the first time you were married, honey. Second time, too.”
“Oh, stop!” she said, laughing. “You’re a total buzzkill. I knew you’d freak, but don’t. I’m twenty-seven, I know what I’m doing! I just called you because…oh, Harper, I’m so happy! I really am! I love him so much! And he thinks I walk on, like, water!”
I closed my eyes. Willa had married her first husband when she was twenty-two, three weeks after Raoul had been released from prison; the divorce followed a month later when strike three came after he robbed a bead store. (I know. A bead store?) Husband #2, acquired when my sister was twenty-five, had come out of the closet seven weeks after the wedding. Only Willa had been surprised.
“That’s great, honey. He sounds, um, wonderful. It’s just… Marriage? Already?”
“I know, I know. But Harper, listen. I’m totally in love!”
So much for live and learn. “Going slow never hurt anyone, Wills. That’s all I’m saying.”
“Can’t you say you’re happy for me, Harper? Come on! Mama’s totally psyched!”
This was not a surprise. My stepmother, BeverLee of the Big Blond Hair, lived for weddings, whether in the family, the tabloids or on one of the three soap operas she watched religiously.
“It’s just fast, that’s all, Willa.”
Willa sighed. “I know. But this isn’t like those other times. This is the real deal.”
“You just moved two months ago, honey. Don’t you want to enjoy the city, figure out what you really want to do for a living?”
“I can still do that. I’m getting married, not dying.”
There was an edge in my sister’s voice now, and I figured I’d dangle a carrot. “True enough. Well, this is exciting. Congratulations, honey! Hey! I’d love to throw you guys a big wedding out here on the Vineyard. All the good places are booked for this fall, no doubt, but next summer—”
“No need, but thank you, Harper! You’re so nice, but we already found a spot, and you’ll never guess where.”
“Where?” I asked.
“Glacier National Park, that’s where! In Montana!”
“Wow.” I glanced at Dennis, but his attention was still fixed to the screen above the bar. “So, um…when were you thinking?” Please let it be a long time from now.
“No time like the present,” she chirped. “September eleventh! You’ll be my maid of honor, right? It has to be you!”
“September eleventh, Wills?”
“Oh, come on! That day could use a little happiness, don’t you think?”
“That’s two weeks away.”
“So? When it’s right, it’s right. Will you be my maid of honor or not?”
I opened my mouth, closed it and bit my tongue. Two weeks. Holy testicle Tuesday. Two weeks to talk Willa out of another disastrous marriage, or at least to slow down and really get to know her potential groom. I could do it. Just had to play along. “Well, sure. Of course I’ll be your maid of honor.”
“Hooray! Thank you, Harper! It’ll be so beautiful out there. But listen, I haven’t told you the best part yet,” Willa said.
My heart stuttered. “Are you pregnant?” I asked calmly. That would be fine. I would support the baby, of course. Pay for college. Make sure the kid stayed in school.
“No, I’m not pregnant. Listen to you! It’s just that you know the groom.”
“I do?”
“Yup! It’s a totally small world. Want to guess?”
“No. Just tell me who it is.”
“His first name starts with a C.”
Men whose names began with C in Manhattan? “I—I don’t know. I give up.”
“Christopher.” Willa’s voice was smug with affection.
“Christopher who?”
“Christopher Lowery!”
I jerked back in my chair, my pinot noir sloshing dangerously. “Lowery?” I choked out.
“I know! Isn’t that amazing? I’m marrying your ex-husband’s brother!”
CHAPTER TWO
WHEN I CLOSED MY PHONE a moment later, I saw that my hands were shaking. “Dennis?” I said. My voice sounded odd, and Father Bruce glanced over, frowning. I gave him a little smile—well, I tried. “Den?”
My boyfriend jerked to attention. “You okay, hon? You look…weird.”
“Dennis, something came up. Willa…um…can we just…table our conversation for a little while? A few weeks?”
A tidal wave of relief flooded his face. “Uh…sure! You bet! Is your sister okay?”
“Well, she’s…yeah. She’s getting married.”
“Cool.” He frowned. “Or not?”
“It’s…it’s uncool. I have to run, Dennis. I’m sorry.”
“No, no, that’s fine,” he said. “Want me to drive you home? Or stay over?”
“Not tonight, Dennis. Thanks, though.”
I must’ve sounded off, because Dennis’s eyebrows drew together. “You
